Polymerization is initiated generally by free radical. There are four types of
free radical initiators which initiate polymerization.
- Peroxides including
hydroperoxides (tertiary-butyl hydroperoxide, benzoylperoxide)
- Azocompound
thermal initiators (azoisobutyronitrile)
- Redoxinitiators (mixture of
iron(III) acetylacetonate): free radicals are formed by one-electron
transferreactions. Useful in low temperature and emulsion
polymerization
- Photoinitiators (benzoin, benzil dimethylketal)
The main
advantage of polymerization started by photoinitiators is
temperature-independence and easy control. It can be conducted at very low
temperatures and can be stopped simply by removing the light source.
Photoinitiators are compounds that break down into free radicals upon exposure
to ultraviolet radiation. Photoinitiators undergo a unimolecular bond cleavage
upon irradiation to yield free radicals (benzoin esters; benzil ketals;
alpha-dialkoxy acetophenones; alpha-hydroxy-alkylphenones; alpha-amino alkyl-
phosphine; acylphosphine oxides). Another type of photoinitiators undergo a
bimolecular reaction where the excited state of the photoinitiator interacts
with a second molecule (a coinitiator) to generate free radicals(benzo
phenones,amines; thioxanthones,amines; titanocenes). Photoinitiators are widely
applied in UV curing inks, wood coatings, paper coatings, optical fiber, PCB,
screen printing , paper varnish and other surface coatings.
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